Phil: … Yes I know puns at the expense of previous Dutch entrants are not funny, but hell, broadcaster NOS are becoming as amusing as a dose of piles. The song offers nothing new. It seems to follow the cloggy blueprint – key change, build, someone who can sing. But that’s the sort of thing that doesn’t fly in Eurovision these days. We’re no longer in the world of Wogan. Having said that, the Dutch do seem to be trying to lift this song from the dumper by having a word with everyone and getting them to try a bit harder – and that’s the point – the song appears like it is trying to avoid the bottom five as opposed to making a decent fist out of winning. It is perfectly feasible that after this performance, NOS could just take their ball and go away , but would that be any loss?
Nick: Mmmm again. This is a performance that left some members of the ‘press corps’ reassessing Edsilia‘s chances. That’d be me, then. It remains a dog of a song, but the Dutch delegation are really pulling with all their strength to rescue something from the situation. Edsilia is way better than this song. The staging and backdrops are appropriate and keep things moving along … and I think they’ve even topped up the petrol in the Ford Capri. For all this, I don’t think it’s been lifted into contention, the best they can hope for is ‘respectable near miss’ at this stage.